Du Plessis Heavy Favorite Over Usman at UFC Fight Night
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- Dricus du Plessis sits as a -245 favorite over Kamaru Usman (+200) in the middleweight main event at UFC Fight Night on Saturday, with the over/under set at 3.5 rounds (-200/+154) at DraftKings.
- Du Plessis (23-3) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, while Usman (21-4) snapped a three-bout losing streak with a unanimous decision win over Joaquin Buckley on June 14, 2025.
- Du Plessis was the first South African UFC title holder and owns wins over former champions Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland; Usman is the first Nigerian-born UFC champion with a 15-bout UFC welterweight winning streak and five title defenses.
- SportsLine analyst Kyle Marley is backing Dione Barbosa (-425) to win via submission over UFC debutant Anna Crutchfield (+330) on the prelims, citing Crutchfield's defensive issues against Barbosa's grappling edge.
- The five-bout main card also features Jared Cannonier (-340 favorite) vs. Christian LeRoy Duncan, Chase Hooper (-380) vs. Mitch Ramirez, Tabatha Ricci (-485) vs. Fatima Kline, and Tommy McMillen (-120) vs. Alberto Montes.
Why it matters: Bettors backing Usman at +200 get nearly 2.5-to-1 on a former champion whose 15-fight welterweight winning streak and takedown defense rate (97.3%) are among the best in UFC history, while du Plessis — a -245 favorite coming off his first title-fight loss — is essentially being priced as a bounce-back candidate rather than a dominant one.
